New Challenges in Communication

Nowadays, texting seems like second nature to most. The use of abbreviations is all you need to keep a conversation going. And even emoji’s are now being used to replace words altogether. It may seem simpler to use for some, but for others, deciphering the meaning behind an emoji can lead to a lot of awkward and miscommunicated situations.

At once, an innocent purple vegetable has now become synonymous with something very not-so-innocent. If a parent asks their child what they’re doing tonight, and they reply with an eggplant emoji, chances are they are NOT cooking eggplant.

Or what about the peach emoji? A rounded pink coloured caricature with a crevice in the middle – what does that remind of you? And it seems, appropriately enough, that the peach and the eggplant are often paired together, referencing something that now needs no prior conversation or words to convey.

The rise of technology and smart phones has given way to a new method of communication – one that consists of smiley faces and cartoon vegetables. So I wonder what kind of new communication challenges people will have to face with greater technological advancements. I assume more time spent on deciphering if a taco emoji actually means a taco…

If you don’t know what the eggplant or peach emojis mean, here is a short video to let you in on the 411, courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel.